more food pics

in all honesty

i only ate the chocolate croissant

and it was the best chocolate croissant i've ever had.

do you see that flakiness?!?!

but

the pics keep coming

cuz iowa's got some serious eats.

mmmmm!

morning run

i stopped to smell the roses.

and by 

"smell the roses,"

i mean

"use instagram."

i ate my way through iowa

nine weeks ago

i joined Weight Watchers 

and i LOVE it.

suddenly

i was understanding a lot more about my life

a lot more about my habits

and i was TOTALLY losing weight

i lost six pounds in six weeks!!

 AND THEN

three weeks ago

everything changed.

i went on four "vacations"

and by "vacation"

i basically mean

i'm suddenly driving 10 + hours OR flying across the country with multiple stops

i changed jobs

AND work hours

my sister moved in with us

AND

i lost my daily WW buddy

AND

i changed my eating schedule and food prep

AND

my income level shifts dramatically.

EVERYTHING changed.

and then i went to iowa.

and apparently there's nothing in iowa

except corn

and weddings

and aaron's family and friends

and really, really good food.

and i just went for it.

can i just say, "YUM!"

before i dive into my food fiesta,

let me just say

that

regardless of the fact that i blew through my WW daily allowances every day

WHICH I DON'T APPROVE OF

AND AM, OF COURSE, HOPPING BACK ON THE WAGON

FOR MY HEALTH, SANITY, AND ABILITY TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES

i really, really, really notice a difference in terms of my expectations.

before weight watchers

i DREADED the scale

and i dreaded my body.

i never understood what was going on!!

i'd eat a lot

and feel like shit

and not know why

and now

i still ate a lot

and i still felt like shit

BUT

let me just say

that it was NOT NEARLY as bad as it's been in the past

i chose my food differently.

i ate better food, more nutritious food

i WALKED or JOGGED or SWAM every single day

and, honestly, i was really HONEST with myself about what i was doing and what to expect.

and next week

when i get on the scale

and see my number has gone back to the starting point

(which i know, calculating my PP (points plus) totals, and watching my face,)

i won't be SHOCKED or HELPLESS or A VICTIM.

I'll still be in charge.

I'll still work hard,

work smart,

and be proud of my ability to begin again.

I'll set my goals

plan it out

see the end result

and GO.

Weight-gain is not my affliction.

Healthy eating, and learning to eat what I want (intelligently) is my goal.

AND NOW!

the delicious run-down....

(AND LET ME TELL YOU

aaron's family KNOWS how to bake

AMAZING cooks and chefs,

AMAZING)

I had the most amazing

coffee

champagne

cabernet sauvignon

and margaritas.

i had prosecco

some sips of tasty beers

bacon

ham

carnitas

rice

bean sprouts

strawberries strawberries and so many strawberries!

bananas

french toast

DAIRY QUEEN

a root beer float

vanilla bean gelato

some Lake Okoboji fresh fried cinnamon donuts

a hot dog

some french fries

smoked salmon

lemon tart

tomatoes

carrots

celery

a few lovely mixed salads

spaghetti

parmesan creme brûlée

pizza, pizza, and pizza!

a cajun burger

wedding cake

wedding cookies

and whoopee pies.

granted

this is over eight days, various meals, a wedding, lots of wedding-related parties, a birthday party, and a reunion.

i ate fruit every morning for breakfast

and exercised every day.

seriously, you'd think i was in a new country, but hey,

turns out iowa isn't so bad.

:)

did i ever blog about my giant valentines??

i don't think i did.

so what do you do

when it's time to celebrate the ones you love

and most of them lives miles and hours away?

you take giant pieces of butcher paper

lay them flat

find some space

prep them, organizationally

begin painting

giant hearts

giant letters

happy, lovey thoughts

let dry

fold up teensy

send away!

happy valentine's day, family!!

how did i manage to look so hideous?

oh friends

it's true

i did

i look hideous.

look at this beautiful, happy photo

OF MY SISTER

with her gorgeous face

full of light and love 

the eve of her graduation.

now look at me ruining it horribly.

how did i do that so well??

have you any award-winning horror moments?

i love jeni's more than i love graeter's

i've had to defend and advise on ice cream in ohio more often than usual in the past week.

cincy has this big thing with grater's

which

in terms of ice cream

is LOCAL

but that's about all it has going for it.

it's not my favorite.

thick

icy

hard

basic

i prefer ice creams with smooth charm and delicate definition.

and as far as "local" goes,

jeni's is far superior.

______________

and if you haven't noticed, my life has obviously taken a breather 

which is why 

i'm obviously blogging.

:)

this pleases me!

torte

what makes a torte a torte?

more dohhhhnuts

she made it! she made it!

life is wonderful.

stephanie is here.

we're working

and playing

and all hanging out

HARD CORE

i am busy

and exhausted

and interested to see what's next.

fingers crossed for me!

carol hannah

Ask a Lady: Too Excited to Leave a Pseudonym

i'm having a party outdoors on friday! any decorating ideas?

______________________________________

WOO!!

FRIDAY!

OUTDOORS!

you probably need something beautiful, inexpensive, super easy, and with the ability to get torn to pieces if the weather goes sour.

you obvs need STREAMERS.

away we go

gnomes in love

"aaron

you get to do all the fun things."

i crabbed last week.

because i was going to work

and aaron was going to a garage party for the concours d'elegance

and i was going to work.

(look at this great pink car we found when we went to the actual concours)

but it was alright.

"i have surprises for you!"

aaron texted, at the end of my shift.

and then i got home 

and there was a gigantic bushel of balloons in our guest room

and treats and yummy things in the fridge.

i continued to be a crab.

but i was a happy crab.

<3

yay, stephanie!

just for the heck of it

this one

^^^

is gonna come live with us till the beginning of august

taking a much needed respite

and gearing up for college back in texas come august.

take the cake

two weekends ago

aaron 

went on the mods n rockers rally

and i,

being not-on-a-bike

was not allowed to partake

because,

well,

because there is no substitution for not owning a bike when everyone else does.

:)

so i went to yoga

and waited

and went to north side

to Take the Cake

which i always love

and had lunch and sat there 

and waited

until the rally showed up.

and it didn't

for two more hours

so i also had a lemonade cupcake

which made it all a little bit better.

did terribly on my weight watchers diet this past week

and have a slight inkling that sad days and cupcakes have more than a little bit to do with it.

am back on track

and feeling good about the times to come.

my spies are excellent

everyone knows you start recognizing your pals by what they drive

and aaron

who spends his time brapping around cincinnati and causing mischief

is absolutely no exception

ESPECIALLY

when one of my friends spots his bike parked outside

when he's off to "just run a couple of errands."

crepes

little bit o happy

Senate

aaron and i had a Senate lunch yesterday

mostly

because i love fancy lunches

and i love trying new restaurants i've never been to

and i love nice daytime dates with aaron

and i don't like drinking at night

but man, oh man, give me a cocktail midday, and i'm all set and rarin' to go.

the food was great, of course.

we did quite the bout of sampling.

i got the lucy lou, a lemoncello cocktail

and aaron got the kitten fizz, a raspberry, st. germain concoction.

his was better,

and mine was a little heavier than i expected, which didn't bode well with my absolutely delicious potato and leek soup, which was creamy, flavorful, and delightful.

we ended up at the bar, as,

at 12, when the joint opens at 11:30,

it was already packed,

but such is the case when you're restaurant is tiny.

i think the small-ness of Senate works in its favor,

but also,

at the same time,

if you're trying to try out a new place

it's always going to be really difficult to get a table

and i think that might make me a little pissy after awhile.

 aaron got the Lindsay Lohan, an all-beef hotdog with bacon, goat cheese, and caramelized onions,

and i opted for the Dan Korman, a vegetarian red bean cannelini and fennel dog, with plenty of arugula, goat cheese, and balsamic glaze.

pretty good, aaron's was loads more delicious and flavorful than mine.

we shared some of the truffle fries, which were quite delicious. fat, crispy outside, soft inside fries with large salt chunks for that perfect fried, salty taste.

i ate too much

because i didn't have time to sleep it off before work

and so i napped

and got grouchy

and spent the rest of the night wishing my stomach didn't feel so full.

i guess fancy lunches are only great when one has nothing to go to, afterward.

well, NOW I KNOW.

senate was nice

and pretty on the inside

but i don't think i'll be back anytime soon.

it's not something i kick up a craving for, only a curiosity.

it's going on

there were some european men in the bistro last night.

taking photos of their food

documenting their exploits in america

and as they left i asked them how their food was

and they told me

it was very tasty and delightful.

then

the one with the camera

a little shy

told me he'd taken several photos of me

that i was very beautiful

and lovely to watch.

it hardly phased me,

i thanked him

they left.

and then i was quietly flattered.

personally

it's been awhile since i've been "lovely" 

for art.

and since i love my art

and love my theatre

it feels good to feel

i've got "it"

going on again.

stylish glasses for kids

Very French Gangsters

Private Parts

via

so

while remarkably public

there are still parts of my life

that remain decidedly private

decisions.

opportunities.

possibilities.

i posted just a couple of day's ago about how boring my blog has gotten

and perhaps that is true

but it is nowhere close to representing my real life

in fact,

i'm in the midst of LOADS of opportunities

LOADS of excitement

and LOADS of love and upcoming plans.

i write about things as they happen.

sometimes.

and sometimes,

i'm very happy

just living.

so, news to come, as it comes.

i'm just assuring everyone

that the best is yet to come

and the blog will represent the happenings when they happen.

love.

a